12 July 2015

Celebration...

When you are absent for many years from home, you tend to forget certain events but the story behind this remembrance is well enconsced in my memory as a moment of pride for the nation I call mine.A little background history: For centuries the lowlands known as Flanders were under the rule of other nations. Known for their cloth industry worked mainly with English wool, Flemish weavers produced high-quality textiles, their largest centres located in Ghent and at Ypres.Until the 13th century Flemish merchants conducted their trade outside of what is known as Belgium today, later on developing a lucrative market for their cloths in the Flanders, and thus the seaport of Brugge became a centre of world commerce.Ever rebelling against outside rulers, the Flemings of Brugge massacred the town’s French garrison (an event known as the Matins of Brugge) in 1302, and King Philip sent his powerful French army into Flanders to take revenge. The Flemings, however, inflicted a disastrous defeat on this army on 11 July, 1302. The spurs taken from the fallen French knights formed the trophy that gave the battle its name: The Battle Of The Spurs.This victory saved Flanders from French occupation, and France formally recognized Flemish independence in 1305.

Source Google (HERE)And for those who know MAC the Corgi, it is said one or more of his ancestors probably traveled to Britain with those weavers and were then bred as herders...now to be known as Pembroke Welsh Corgis.Until the next time,